Channel Surfing

School is starting again for everyone else, and so my Mom, Dad and I had to move a bunch of stuff in to the townhouse my sister's living in this year.  I was a little annoyed, since my sister didn't actually come this trip to move stuff.  She had to study, which also apparently including going out with her friends to a festival.
After I did some small things around the house, my Mom told me there wasn't anything else to do, so I was stuck there.  So I ended up watching tv, something I don't usually just do.  I have my shows that I'm crazy about, and that's what I watch, but I don't channel surf too often. 
I ended up on Criminal Minds, which I've decided (after about four episodes,) I like.  I like mysteries and police procedurals, and obviously have watched a lot of Law and Order, so this isn't surprising.

Also unsurprising: I'm enamored of Dr. Reid.  I don't usually think of myself as having a type, other than to say I love a smart man.  And Dr. Reid has all sorts of degrees and a mind that solves puzzles.  Hot.  Also, he's all dark and broody because he's afraid his mind is potentially dangerous.  So, basically, nerd plus Angel.  Love it.  Oh, and did I mention he has fabulous hair? 

Speaking of great minds: Bazinga, I am in love with Dr. Sheldon Cooper, PhD.  I really don't need to watch anymore tv, but I made the mistake of coming across the fanfiction, and, actually, yes, I prefer the fanfiction to the actual show.  There's something very mean spirited about the show.  None of the male characters seem to like each other that much, they just sort of tolerate one another.  And so much of the humor on the show is "Tee-hee!  These guys are nerds!  They have no self-awareness!"  Oh, and I'm annoyed that the one female character's a moron.  I hang out with a lot of nerds (sorry, guys, it's true), and much of the interactions ring false.  I guess I can't expect these guys to come off as charming and ultimately family-like to one another the want all my nerd friends do. 
But Sheldon himself is intriguing and bizarrely charming.  His accent, which I've honestly never heard, directly subverts the stereotypes about nerds.  And he is unabashedly himself, which I find admirable in a world where everyone's trying to sell themselves all the time. 
Fangirling it up sort of makes up for what I really wanted to do that day which was 1.) Go to a concert or 2.) Sleep.  (In that order.)  My Mom reminded me that my sister helped me move out, but that's not the same as I asked her not to come and was actually there for it.

Art Nerds and Cocoa Puffs

If you've been reading, than you've probably guessed by now that I am an art nerd.  I'm not very good at making art, but I do go out sometimes looking for things that are pleasing to the eye.  Sometimes those things find me.  Black Warrior Review has posted its entire archive, and I love the covers.   I'm torn between the neon-glo robot cover and the cover of the medicine cabinet, which makes me think of the cover for Sex, Drugs and Cocoa Puffs, a book I first saw in high school when my friend Alex was reading it.  You'll notice this cover clear references the drugs and the cocoa puffs, but not the sex, unless you want to get all Freudian about it and interpret the spoon as a penis.  (Which is totally what Freud would do.) 

Con Virgin, part 2

Like I was saying in my last post, Matt and I spent a lot of time in the game room, since Matt was interested in learning more about games.  And, as I also mentioned in that post, I was looking to do a little amateur anthropology work.
The game room ended up being the best place to talk to people.  Whenever I'm in these situations, I feel very much like Elizabeth Bennet, since I find myself being witty and doing my best to endear myself to people.
I made jokes making fun of Republicans, and those went over surprisingly well.  Because of all the time I've spent with Dean over the past few years, I guess I've gotten it in my head that all nerds are libertarians, but my sense was they were liberals, which made me happy.
One of the people I ended up meeting was Matt Arnold.  When I first noticed he was wearing a tag with that name, I was tempted to ask him if that was really his name.  (The last time I saw that name, I was at Westminister Abbey.  Go on, look up who the historical figure is.)  I was impressed with certain things about him, and he seemed game enough for my wit.  (Along with his friend Nathan, who played along.  Score!)  Briefly looking around on his website, he appears to be way nerdier than I ever have been, but that's okay.  And the best news?  He appears to be pro-poly.      
I hate to admit it, but there were some cute boys there.  And there were some not-so-cute boys there who also had personality.  And, let's face it, I'm a personality fan.  If you want my immediate attention, sure, looking cute helps, but if you want to keep that attention long term, you better be something more.  It's too bad that I will certainly never see some of those boys again.  Some of them might be worth it.
The strangest thing that happened was that a young boy named Milo followed Matt and I out of the game room.  He introduced himself to us as Milo.  He was so young, and maybe a little too young to be wandering around the convention alone.  Matt totally blamed me for getting him to follow us around, but honest to God, I didn't do it on purpose.  I didn't even talk to the boy.  But, really, he seemed harmless enough, so no biggie.  
Matt and I also sat through this discussion of a steampunk movie maker.  The movies were well-made, and the one director seemed a little boring, but his best friend with him was hilarious and maybe manic.  I'd totally love to see the latter do nerdy stand-up. 
So maybe I didn't end up doing much in the way of anthropology, but that's not the end of the universe.  I definitely feel like, for the most part, people were very friendly.  There were a few people who were exactly like the most negative stereotype of nerds, but I was mostly pleased with the experience.  
Getting home?  Not so much.
Matt is wonderful and all, but he managed to get lost three times on the way back home.  I know what happened the last two times, but I'm still trying to figure out how the first time happened.  I wasn't paying attention because Matt and I were having an intense, heart-to-heart conversation and I was dealing with frantic text messages from my Mom, so I wasn't watching where Matt was going.  I think the first time he turned somewhere funny, because all he had to do was go straight before we hit a particular freeway.  At one point, it became clear we were going east when we were suppose to be going north.  And then for some reason, Matt turned around and went south. 

Con Virgin

Yesterday, I headed over to a steampunk convention. As some of you know, I'm really interested in subcutltures, and steampunk is one of the newest around. I wanted to do a little amateur anthropology work.
But one of the things that happened was that I ran into my old friend Jack, who I went to high school with. It was through him that I heard about the convention.
Jack's a transman, which means that he's going through a transition right now. He's really cool. He mentioned to me that he wants to go back and see a particular teacher, but since he's begun taking hormones (his voice is very different now), he's a little worried about going back to see that teacher. Not so much because that teacher would hate him, but because it might be a little bit of a shock.
I know if I was in Jack's position, I would feel really awkward about it too. I told him that if he went with a group of friends (we all sat together in the back) or someone gave the teacher warning, it might be fine. I didn't think about it at the time, but I probably should have offered to go with him. Hell, I'd even be polite to my ex-boyfriend to get this to work for Jack.
Anyway, I digressed before I even got started on what I wanted to say. The steampunk convention was really cool. There was a merchants room, and I saw all sorts of cool costumes and props and other nerdy things for sale. Even though I had a fair amount of moolah on me, I always feel like I should be very careful what I buy. (NO impulse purchases.) So I mostly looked. There were some beautiful hats and costumes for sale, and they were very expensive looking. I actually managed to make myself a pretty decent costume just out of the stuff I have in my closet. The only thing I really need to do is to improve this look is maybe add an accessory or two to make it more steampunk-y. I collected tons of fliers and business cards, so I'm hoping that there will be people for me to go to for more stuff, should I decide to buy it. I'm a big believer that it's never too early to start making wishlists for Christmas or your birthday.
The only thing I ended up buying were some clip on magnifying glasses. Basically, one of the most important parts of a steampunk costume is the goggles. But of course these goggles have a very particular design, one that suctions down on each eye, making them less than ideal for those of us who wear glasses full time. So, even though this is one nerdy subculture, you can't help but feel, as someone who wears glasses, that you're being discriminated against once again. But they also make these handy magnifiers you can clip to your glasses to give you a steampunk look and still use your prescription lenses.

I'm also thinking that maybe I should use one of my belts and just buy a few simple add-ons, like a flask or jar or gun holster (with gun, obviously) and that will look way more steampunk than some of the other people I saw there. Steampunk is all in the accessories.
Matt and I headed over to the game room for part of the convention. We played the game Arkham Horror, which is based on the Lovecraft stories. It was this big, impressively complicated game involving investigators trying to stop monsters from destroying the town. The representative showing this game looking like he belonged in a mobster movie and smelled like Burger King fries.
100 posts! Which would probably be more impressive if I hadn't skipped two days of posting, just because there hasn't been much going on or too much going on for me to get to room in the day to post something.